


A Quantum Glimpse

by smol_sophic



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Getting Together, M/M, Quantum Abyss (Voltron), during season 7 too, keith is in the abyss and sees the future thas it, post-season 8, sweet n tender
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-02-17
Updated: 2020-02-17
Packaged: 2021-02-28 00:22:29
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,524
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22774849
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/smol_sophic/pseuds/smol_sophic
Summary: In the quantum abyss, Keith gets a glimpse of his future after the war, after Voltron, where his older self asks Lance a question. Then he has to wait 20 years for the answer.
Relationships: Keith/Lance (Voltron)
Kudos: 106





	A Quantum Glimpse

Keith awoke to a nudge from the wolf. Absentmindedly petting its soft head, he sat up and stretched. Krolia was already tending to a fire and the few pieces of strange meat roasting over it. His mother looked up at him and gave him a good morning smile.  


They ate breakfast in comfortable silence. Keith felt at ease. It was strange how peaceful it was to live with his mother, in a cave, on the back of a space whale, floating through the quantum abyss. It absolutely had its own brand of chaos, but it also had its moments of pure clarity that Keith had never felt before.  


The two set to the work for the day. Collecting fuel for the fire, food for their meals, and training their wolf companion to stop teleporting after every small creature that crossed its sight. Their routine made it so easy to forget the daily perils the abyss had to throw at them. They played house, only ever interrupted by harsh flashes of the past or future. With his back to the center of the abyss, Keith saw a bright light in the corner of his eye. He instinctually braced for what was to come.  


Keith opened his eyes to see himself, much older, standing on a farmhouse porch. His older self knocked on the door. He could feel his own future anticipation stuck in his throat as he waited. Keith was surprised when Lance stepped out. He looked so much older. His eyes were worn of the blinding gleam Keith knew them to have. His laugh lines were setting in. He had subtle patches of grey growing along his sideburns. However, the oddest feature of his face was the Altean markings. Keith bet his own face had suffered a similar fate of age, but he was frozen in his place by the abyss’ hold, unable to see his future self.  


The two older men fell into a silent hug, a deep understanding and bond shared within it. Keith could feel it even though he was an unwelcome observer of this moment. A moment he had yet to experience. When the men pulled away they kept a hand on each other’s arms, a strong, comforting hold.  


“Always great to see you, Keith,” Lance gave him a warm smile that even soothed the version who wasn’t really there.  


“You too, Lance.” Keith couldn’t recognize the maturity in his own voice. It gave him the same feeling he got when his father would speak to him.  


“Heard you finally retired,” Lance chuckled. “Little early, ya think?”  


“Still lasted longer than you.” The men laughed together. Their jabs no longer holding any of the venom they did when they were young.  


“Gotta give you that one, buddy,” Lance patted Keith’s shoulder. “The Blades are a lot more taxing than an office job anyways. I guess retiring at 48 isn’t that bad. ”  


“I’ll still be training new cadets, I’m just not going on any more missions if I can help it.”  


“Keith Kogane finally learned how to quit! It’s a miracle!” Their laughter sang together. Keith watched them stroll over to the porch swing and take a seat. Their shoulders touched as they equally stared longingly at the sunset. Keith could feel the same comfortable silence between the men that he’d forged with his mother in the abyss. He looked at his own aged face in somber confusion. He also had laugh lines showing, but a large scar ran across his cheek. He couldn’t help but think it was similar to the face markings his mother had. He also had grey hairs peeking through, but not as much as Lance. The silence stretched long until the sun had disappeared over the distant mountains. The porch lamp and the lit-up kitchen were their only light sources. Each man had a wise smile. Lance reached out to place his hand over Keith’s. The man hardly reacted, save for his smile growing softer.  


“Hardly anyone comes to visit me out here, they’re so busy. I really appreciate you coming.” There was an unmistakable weight to Lance’s words.  


“I haven’t seen the others in a while either. They have no idea how to take a break. Did you get the invite to Pidge’s wedding?”  


“Yes! I was so surprised! Who’d’ve thought she’d be able to take her nose out of a screen long enough to talk to another sentient being, much less long enough to marry them!” They laughed together, shoulders pressing closer to each other.  


“Yeah, it’s really something. Seems like everyone’s got someone now... ‘cept us.” Another silence fell, but it was much more melancholy than before.  


“...Did you just come to moan about your loneliness, Keith?” Lance’s voice had the tinge of a joke, but it was still more troubled than sarcastic.  


“Not exactly…” Keith inhaled deeply and sighed away all his nerves. “Lance…”  


“Yeah?”  


“Y’know… I had a, thing, for you. Back in the Paladin days…” As Keith listened to his older self his breath caught in his throat. What did he mean by the Paladin days? The days he was experiencing now? Or days he hadn’t yet seen? And why was he actually telling Lance this? Keith’s spiraling thoughts were interfered by Lance’s laughing. Something surprised yet pleased hidden in it.  


“Wow… That’s… ironic.”  


“Ironic?” Keith’s forehead scrunched together, filling in the age lines.  


“I had a crush on you in the Garrison days.” Both Keiths were taken aback.  


“But, you bullied me!” Older Keith vocalized what his younger self was thinking.  


“I never said I was good at expressing it! You weren’t exactly nice to me either!” The men exhaled in unison, pondering the meaning of the confessions. Lance’s hand tightened around Keith’s. The quiet was refreshing. Crickets chirped around them, the animals Lance kept gave a sound every once in a while. Nature buzzed around them in the dark.  


“Lance…” Keith breathed. Lance turned to look at Keith. His profile lit by the kitchen window, shadowing his face, making the age lines disappear. He looked like the Keith that Lance fell for so long ago.  


“You maybe wanna… try?”  


“Try what?” Lance knew what. He wanted to bait Keith into saying it out loud.  


“Us.” Violet eyes met blue, their heartbeats synced, and the world felt deathly still. Lance’s face broke into the most loving smile.  


“Why don’t we take shot at it, Sharpshooter?”  


Keith felt his knees and palms hit the ground, shocking him from the vision. He could hardly believe what he’d saw. It had felt more like a dream than any other vision, but it also had felt truer. He coughed, and it felt like more of a reaction to the intense emotion than the flash from the abyss. Keith looked up, his eyes meeting his wolf’s. A similar blue to Lance’s.  


Keith felt cheated out of Lance’s answer. He knew he had to wait to hear it, but he also knew that give or take 20 years was going to feel like a lifetime.

-

Keith found himself feeling flooded with deja vu as he stepped onto Lance’s porch. He couldn’t place it until he knocked on the screen door. The noise shook loose memories from the abyss. This was the beginning of the moment he’d saw. Keith felt some kind of cross between anxiety and anticipation well up inside him as he stood there. Very familiar to what he’d felt in the vision from the abyss. Then the screen door opened, and Lance stepped a little close into Keith’s space.  


Keith was mesmerized by that familiar face. He’d seen it grow into the state it was, but only now did Keith truly realize the effect time had on his friend. He was as shocked as he’d been seeing it the first time when he wasn’t truly experiencing the moment, just witnessing.  


Everything played out just as Keith had seen it. He couldn’t try and change his words if he tried, cause there were no better ones to use.  


“Why don’t we take a shot at it, Sharpshooter?” Keith felt a rock in his stomach, his throat closed. He’d waited so long to hear the answer to this question he could hardly wait the seconds it took Lance to say it. The world was deathly still again. Utter silence that only they experienced. Lance took a long few seconds to think about his answer. The anticipation killed Keith. He felt ready to leap up and run into the mountains to avoid rejection.  


Lance didn’t answer, exactly. He stared at their hands held together for the longest minute in history, then looked back up at Keith. Suddenly Lance’s other hand found its way to Keith’s cheek and they were kissing. Deeply, sweetly. It took Keith’s breath away in an instant. This was exponentially better than the answer he’d been wishing for all those years. Better than any version of yes that Lance could’ve given him.  


“You don’t know how long I’ve dreamed about you saying that,” Lance whispered against his lips. “Especially the Sharpshooter part.”  


Their giggling smiles met once more, and Keith was finally satisfied.


End file.
